Falluja and Najaf. Much worse is yet to come.
It’s a given the US military will attack Falluja and Najaf, and no doubt will do so in a mind-numbingly brutal and self-defeating way. Self-defeating? Yes. The attacks will fail, the resistance will grow exponentially in size and ferocity, and the world will become a vastly more dangerous place.
They thought it would be easy to grab Iraq, that their plans to establish a permanent military presence in Iraq while simultaneously grabbing the oil, would be a non-event with the joyful natives greeting them by tossing rose petals in their paths. Instead, their mad visions of imperialistic power and unquestioned American dominance worldwide are, quite literally, blowing up in their faces.
Remember when US deaths in Iraq were a rare event? Now there are multiple deaths every day. What does our military do? Change tactics? Revise their plans? Well of course not. Instead they huff and puff, and swagger about boasting how they are the roughest, toughest military in the world and how those Muslimoids are about to get themselves a serious case of ass-whomp. They’ve been saying this for months. Every time they Git Tough, the resistance escalates, and the US military position becomes more precarious. All of which would be a quite comical display of macho ineptness were the consequences of their lunacy not so serious.
As always, “don’t mourn, organize.” And now IS the time to organize.
Anyone who believes that April has been the cruelest month of this Iraq war – 111 Americans killed with the total dead now at 718, hundreds upon hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed – should gird themselves for the reality that the worst, the very worst, the unimaginably awful, is still yet to come.
Do the math.
American forces attack Falluja, and become ensconced in a brutal street-to-street fight within the confines of that maze-like city. 300,000 civilians will be caught in the crossfire, and the resulting carnage will enflame the Iraqi people to a degree not yet seen. American forces will absorb brutal casualties. If the U.S. decides to avoid troop casualties by bombing Falluja in a repeat of Shock and Awe, the loss of civilian life will be beyond severe.
Simultaneously, American forces attack Najaf, a holy city central to the spiritual lives of millions of Shi’ites around the world. An explosion of rage will engulf the Middle East. Iran, which has something resembling a real army, could very well drive across the border to engage American forces that are already stretched. This war, already a ridiculous mess, will become an unmitigated catastrophe.
Attacks halt rebuilding of Iraq.
GE and Siemens have bailed, thus the electrical grid will not be rebuilt in time for the coming extreme summer heat, which will make the natives very cranky indeed. You’d get cranky too if it was 115 and no electricity.
Geneva convention ‘breached’, agencies warn.
Oh that pesky thing.
Veterans for Peace, Arlington West Project
Veterans set this up every Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, one homemade cross for every soldier killed in Iraq. They will continue doing so until the war is over.
Photo by Kevin McKeown